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02/20/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Haas knocked off Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in a playoff at the Northern Trust Open on Sunday and that helped Haas move to a career-best spot of No. 12 in this week's world rankings.
The victory for Haas was his fourth time on the PGA Tour.
Luke Donald again held steady in the top spot. Rory McIlroy inched up one to No. 2 and that bumped Lee Westwood to third.
The next five positions were unchanged with No. 4 Martin Kaymer again followed by Steve Stricker, Webb Simpson, Jason Day and Adam Scott.
Despite the playoff loss, Mickelson moved up two to ninth. Dustin Johnson remained No. 10, while Masters champion Charl Schwartzel dipped a pair to 11th.
After Haas, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar and Nick Watney all slipped one. Sergio Garcia rose one to 16th, as K.J. Choi and Brandt Snedeker both fell two to 17th and 18th respectively.
Bradley jumped seven positions to No. 19 and Tiger Woods dropped a pair to No. 20 this week. Bubba Watson and Justin Rose fell out of the top 20 as they dipped to 21st and 23rd.
Jbe Kruger soared 50 spots to No. 109 after his win at the European Tour's Avantha Masters.
<< Stoppage Time: Next few months crucial for Arsenal
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the wake of Arsenal's 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Sunderland
over the weekend there are two things that are near certainties.
The first is that the Gunners will extend their run of seasons without a
trophy to a sevent
<< Spurs sign Dawson to 10-day contract
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs have signed forward
Eric Dawson to a 10-day contract.
Dawson has appeared in 18 games for Austin of the NBA Development League and
is averaging 15.9 points with 10.1 rebounds and
<< Brewers sign five to one-year contracts
Maryvale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pitchers Marco Estrada, Mike McClendon and Tim
Dillard were among five players the Milwaukee Brewers signed to one-year
contracts on Monday.
Estrada went 4-8 with a 4.08 earned run average in 43 games
<< Hiller, Wheeler and Spezza named NHL's 'Three Stars'
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller,
Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler and Ottawa Senators forward Jason Spezza
have been selected as the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending February 19.
Hill
Baylor remains undisputed No. 1; Stanford moves to second >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baylor remained an undisputed choice as the
No. 1 team in the Associated Press women's college basketball poll.
The undefeated Lady Bears again received all 40 first-place votes and a total
of 1,000 point
Bolts' Ohlund to have knee surgery >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning announced Monday that
defenseman Mattias Ohlund will have left knee surgery later in the week.
The 35-year-old Swede hasn't played a game this season because of the
troublesom
Golf Rantings: February Madness! >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite the efforts of Golf Channel and
its bracket announcement special Monday morning, the WGC-Accenture Match Play
Championship pales a wee bit in comparison to the Selection Sunday you'll see
in a little
Dumped by Raiders, CB Routt signed by rival Chiefs >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs bolstered their
secondary on Monday, signing free agent cornerback Stanford Routt.
Routt, who spent his first seven NFL seasons with Oakland, was cut by the club
on February 9.
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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